Printing and Graphics Science Group

Exciting new developments are taking place in graphic arts technology and printing applications.

The digital revolution initiated a whole range of new ways of reproducing and displaying images and information: physics is involved in forming and measuring the image and how it is perceived.

Inkjet and other printing and deposition processes are being used in many novel applications such as visual displays, flexible electronics, smart packaging, lighting and photovoltaics based on organic and polymer electro-optic materials.

Physicists are actively involved in developing the processes, designing and characterising the products, and developing the new materials.

The UK has a world-leading position in these technologies, and the Printing and Graphics Science Group promotes the application of physics in these fields.

We will bring together scientists working in industry, academy and elsewhere, and develop links with other active professional societies, such as the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, Institute of Paper, Printing and Publishing, Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Photographic Society and the Colour Group.

Research in our areas is multi-disciplinary, often carried out in departments not called “physics”, by scientists whose original discipline is often not physics.

Our activities include this wider community, wherever physics is being developed and brought to bear.

We participate in the Division Conference, as well as maximising the opportunities for joint meetings with other Groups.

The PGS Group is a relaunch and renaming of the Printing, Packaging and Papermaking (PPP) Group, which was formed in 1985 to promote physics in these subject areas.

We maintain an interest in the manufacture and properties of paper as a key substrate for printing, and in the physics of packaging.

Our objectives are:

To promote the application of physics in graphics arts technology, printing, packaging and papermaking

To promote the development of innovative printing in new markets such as displays, lighting and printed electronics

To promote a recognition of the importance of physics in those industries, and to promote physics in these industries as a career choice to graduates

To act as a forum for communication within the scientific community in these industries

Our activities include:

An annual one-day group meeting on a current application of physics to technology.

Technical meetings and visits to companies, laboratories and other venues

Following a number of successful events on "Dynamics of Printed Drops" since 2008, a meeting on "Science of Inkjet and Printed Drops" is regularly held see our calendar page

An annual Student Conference to enable postgraduate researchers to present their work and network

Encouraging student participation by awarding two presentation prizes and making travel funds available through the RSCF

An annual prize for the best application of physics in the subject areas

Organising an IOP Conference on “Preservation and Conservation Issues in Digital Printing and Photography”, following successful events in 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009. The next event is the IS&T Archiving Conference in April 2013 which is co-sponsored by the group